Deerfield police arrest N.Y. murder suspect

DEERFIELD — Local police apprehended a man wanted in connection with the beating death of his stepfather in eastern New York.

Anthony Repp, 22, was taken into custody Friday morning near the East Deerfield rail yard, about 60 miles from his family’s home in Schaghticoke, N.Y. Police launched an intensive search for Repp on Thursday night after discovering Michael Matala, 62, and Cynthia Matala, 58, beaten on their front lawn. Officers had initially responded to a distress call from a distraught woman.

Repp had been at the home before the assault, according to New York State Police.

“We can put him at the residence at the time of the dispute,” Capt. Timothy Munro said.

Police said Friday that Repp will be charged with the second-degree murder of his stepfather.

Michael Matala was pronounced dead at a hospital. Cynthia Matala, Repp’s mother, was listed in critical condition Friday with severe head injuries.

New York Police had called in dogs and a helicopter as they searched for Repp overnight.

Despite the efforts of New York authorities, Repp slipped away into the night, hopped a freight train, and was found Friday morning in Deerfield.

Deerfield police apprehended Repp in the area of the East Deerfield rail yard at about 7 a.m., according to a news release from the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.

According to police logs, officers were dispatched to the area around 5:30 a.m., after railroad employees had seen a man riding on the top of a boxcar in the area of the rail yard.

The man initially gave police a false name, and was arrested for trespassing, but later identified himself as Anthony Repp, according to the release. During the booking process, it reads, he told police there may be a warrant out for him for murder.

When asked during booking to identify his parents, Repp began to cry, according to the release.

New York police said they were in the process of extraditing Repp to New York to face a second-degree murder charge.

The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office said Repp will be arraigned for trespassing, misleading police, and being a fugitive from justice, Monday in Greenfield district court.